


.:like champagne on a maiden voyage (the Hollywood remix):.

by kangeiko



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Character of Color, Community: remix_redux, Female Character of Color, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-27
Updated: 2007-07-27
Packaged: 2017-10-05 08:09:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kangeiko/pseuds/kangeiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You can't sip at life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	.:like champagne on a maiden voyage (the Hollywood remix):.

**Author's Note:**

> Remix of [This Thing Called Life](http://poisontaster.livejournal.com/53693.html) by poisontaster.

When Jubilee first turned up at Westchester, social services had already washed their hands of her. It wasn't that she was a freak so much as she wouldn't stay put - the freakiness was apparently easier to hide on foster home applications. The tendency to sneak out in the middle of the night? Not so much. She'd made short work of the orphanage - hah, and what a place to be just another girl! - and had been picked up in short order by some kindly-looking woman down the corner of 34th and down the rabbit hole, and then she'd had this brief stint as a hooker. Brief, like, ten minutes, until she figured out that the nice lady wasn't really that nice and she'd legged it out like her panties were on fire.

So, back to social services, who stuck her in foster home after foster home 'til she got big enough to camp out, all permanent-like, in the mall. That was where she met Mr Summers a few months later, flicking ineffectual lights and colours at his eyes to distract him and lift his wallet. Yeah, so maybe pick-pocketing wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done right under a telepath's nose, but how was she to know that the redhead with him was a mind-reader, hmm? She'd looked more like a school-teacher.

Turned out that she was, so - Westchester. Big private school, and report cards after she started skipping class and giving the teachers lip, and who-the-fuck-knew who was getting the bill for all this.

"So, this one time, in Aspen -"

And it would have been okay, if she wasn't surrounded by twits half the time. Honestly - did Kitty and Laura have half a brain between the two of them? Slumber parties, for pete's sake, like they were twelve or something.

Not that Jubilee had ever had slumber parties aged twelve but, you know. One heard things.

So, here she is, Miss I'm Living The Dream, only she reckons that she's here on sufferance, and the 'suffer' bit is that she has to make nice to all the rich kids or she'll be out on her ear. And it's not gonna last, is it? She's not stupid, and she can only imagine the cost of a place in Westchester for even half a semester, not close to the full year she's already spent here. What's gonna happen when cute little rich girls started turning up in droves, with kick-ass mutant powers like telepathy and turning shit into gold or whatever? She'd be right back out, that's what.

It's not that she's going around begging for love, mind you, like some crazed Jehovah's Witness. But she wishes that she had a name that didn't make people titter. It was like calling a stripy cat 'Spot', or a white dog 'Shadow', or something just as corny. It's a lame-ass name when you can't live up to it, and she pities all those Ambassadors' daughters out there called Chastity who are likely whoring themselves out right this very second to prove daddy wrong. Poor little rich girls.

And what's Jubilation Lee got to rejoice about, huh?

*

The new kid didn't really make much of an impression on Jubilee when she first came in, other than her big doe eyes and the hulking great guy the X-Men brought in with her. The newbie'd been out of it for a good long while, too, and it would only be a couple of days later, so she heard Kitty tell it, that she'd be allowed in to class. Seeing as they were covering 14th century European history and some sorta crazy physics that week, Jubilee thought it was damn good timing and wished she'd thought of getting all bruised up to skip class. The Professor'd know, though, and so would Dr Grey, probably.

So, anyway, when the girl finally turned up - big doe eyes, yeah, and covered up real good - Jubilee figured that she'd be nice if they ever spoke direct, like, but no-one was gonna force her to take an interest in anyone. She'd been on report for a while, anyway, and despite her name coming up time and again for the crazy-assed mentoring rota Dr Grey had set up, no one in their right mind would put _her_ in charge of a little one. Not street-kid Jubilation Lee, so aptly mis-named Jerry Springer himself couldn't have come up with a better sell.

It's on days like this - when new kids turn up and eat up Miss Monroe and Dr Grey's time - that Jubilee wonders how long the patience of Professor Xavier's gonna last with her. Not much to look at, and lame-ass powers that she can't even control, and it wasn't like she was _dangerous_ or anything - 'xcept that one time, and she knows to stay away from gas stations now - not like Bobby or John or, or the new kid, for instance.

When Rogue finally turned up to class, Jubilee wondered if the girl was all beat-up and abused or something, or if she maybe had scales under all them hoodies and long-sleeves t-shirts she piled on. It wasn't until later, when Bobby had started making moon-eyes at her - and what kind of lame-ass name was _Rogue_, anyway? - and there was the big to-do with the guy she brought in with her that Jubes took an interest.

"She just _zapped_ him! Like _that_!" Kitty snapped her fingers and Laura tittered. They'd claimed the sweetest spot in the Westchester grounds, the bench overlooking the boy's football field, setting out brown bags and Starbucks skinny frappu-fucking-whatevers and bottled mineral waters by their backpacks. Oddly, it was this last that most pissed Jubilee off. What, New York water not good enough for them?

Laura's mouth had formed a perfect 'o' of outraged astonishment. "No way!"

"Way! It was majorly freaky."

Right, well, that was just about enough. "What, you're Valley-girls now? Grow some manners, Kitty-cat, 'fore I have you girls de-clawed." Jubilee sat herself down between the two of them, arms folded across her chest.

"Jeez, Jubes, what's ringing _your_ bell?" Laura rolled her eyes and tossed her hair.

Suddenly, Jubilee wanted nothing more than to smack the cheek right out of her. "_You_ Laura. _You're_ ringing my damn bell. You are your little catty talks right here at Westchester. Didn't your momma ever teach you to not spread nasty rumours? Or was that part something they skipped over at Little Miss Manners' Finishing School?"

Laura glared. "Look, Jubilation, just because you have some sorta chip on your shoulder about your lack of trust fund, you don't need to get all malignant."

"Hey," Kitty broke in, and Jubilee was damned pleased to see the red flush spread across her cheeks, "Laura, yeah, maybe it was a little outta line."

"No way! You saw it yourself - she zapped that guy for no reason."

"Really," Jubilation said, and raised an eyebrow. She straightened her back, pulling up every single millimetre of extra height she had on the younger girls, even in this awkward sitting position. "No reason, you say."

"Well," Kitty said after a moment, looking even more sheepish, "maybe not for _no_ reason."

"Yeah," Jubilee said, and didn't bother to stick around and hear the rest. "That's what I thought." Wasn't much point in sticking around anyway; she had gym class, and she was already late.

She never gave the matter much thought after that, 'specially since the new girl turned out to be a pretty good fit for Westchester after all. Better than Jubilee was, at any rate - and she still had her weekly report cards, 'though who the hell she was supposed to show them to she wasn't very clear on. The Professor read them over; but, then, Dr Grey wrote them, so if that wasn't a perfect example of red tape she didn't know what was.

And so a few days later, when Rogue bolted and the new guy bolted after her, and Magneto came after them all, Jubilee was actually trying to put in the hours to study for that thrice-damned physics test. Yeah, library-bound with a huge tome that looked like it could hold the main hall's doors open, no problem, and absorbing knowledge through osmosis, she was sure, when Bobby Drake ran in and grabbed her to one side.

"There's a fight, Jubes! The X-Men went out and took the jet and there was an actual _fight_!" His blue eyes were shining so brightly they were almost glowing.

Jubilee wrung her hand free. "Okay, yeah Bobby, now once more with some actual _sense_?"

"The X-Men took the jet and went after that guy that snatched the new girl, Rogue - he's got some weird evil scheme or something -"

"Hold up." Jubilee was grinning by now. "Now I _know_ you're having me on. 'Some weird evil scheme'? What is this, a Hammer Horror schlock flick? Gimme a break, Bobby -"

"I'm serious! There's some serious stuff going down over at Liberty Island, they're trying to evacuate everyone from the UN summit, _and it's got something to do with Rogue_!" Out of breath, Bobby stared at her expectantly.

Jubilee's face slowly split into a grin. "You _like_ her!"

Bobby's face flushed deep red. "What are you, twelve? I'm telling you that the world's having some serious stuff done to it _right now_ and you want to talk _crushes_?"

"Yeah, 'cause this is the time to plug in that junior-year understanding of the geopolitical economy of South-East Asia, uhuh." She rolled her eyes. "Even if you're right - and, for the record, I don't believe a word of it 'cause it sounds like something Ashton Kutcher would spin - what the hell are _we_ supposed to do about it?"

And so, after choosing a few appropriate put-downs, Bobby left, presumably in search of someone with a better knowledge of South-East Asia's burgeoning dependence on American dollars.

Jubilee snorted and plonked herself back down at the library desk, kicking her feet against the wooden legs and flicking random sparks to keep herself amused. Kids. With reaction ranging from a royal bitch-slapping to running off, knight on a white charger, the new girl had the whole school in a tizzy - and tomorrow, like it or not, Jubilee was still gonna have to sit that damn physics test.

For a brief moment, Jubilee hated that new girl, like, really truly hated her. She'd never even met her properly, wasn't that totally pathetic? With an effort, she clamped down on the feeling flaring through her before it could escape through her fingers and thought, _I'm not gonna let this get to me_. And wasn't this a stupid time to let it all collapse?

She had the clothes on her back - and some more, besides, tucked away in the girls' dormitory - and she had a roof over her head, and no one was perving over her. Westchester was a damn sight better than living at the mall or, worse, the orphanage.

"You're a lucky, lucky girl, Jubilation Lee," she told herself firmly, with the air of one needing to believe it, and turned back to her textbook.

*

So the mess with Magneto got fixed – and they'd used the jet, just as Bobby had said, all right – and the new kid wasn't so new anymore. Jubilee had been more focused on trying to keep her grades from slipping any further down than to listen to rumours, anyways 'cause she's on her final straw, or chance, or whatever dumb metaphor Dr Grey liked that week, and thinking that maybe going back to the mall wouldn't be so bad. She'd miss the regular eats and whathaveyou Westchester provided, but, straight out of a Hallmark card, Jubilee was too busy being miserable in a crowd to think of that right now.

"You should come hang out at my folks' place, down South, sugar. It's real pretty come summertime." Rogue plopped herself down uninvited to Jubilee in the prime guy-watching spot on the prime bench at Westchester and stretched out her booted legs. The slice of white hair, like a skunk's markings, was tied up haphazardly and Rogue had pulled up the hood of her sweater against the encroaching spring chill.

Jubilee slanted an eyebrow at her from over her bottle of soda. "Is it just me, or was that straight out of the Brady Bunch?"

"Nope. I'm just saying - it's something my ma told me to say when I went on my big 'round America' trip." Her smile went a little brittle around the edges. "I suppose she was expecting me to meet businessmen's kids and a preacher's pot plant or something, not end up here."

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure anyone expected to end up here. Mutant High doesn't feature in the Zagart's Guide."

"Oh, I dunno, I reckon I could rec it to one or two friends back south. They might not like the cooking, but they'd find the company real charming anyhow."

Jubilee stared at her, brows drawn together suspiciously. "Are you hitting on me?"

"Lord no!" And Rogue burst out in a peal of nervous girlish laughter. "Um. Sorry. No. I'm just being friendly, honest." She held up a gloved hand, still smiling. "Scout's honour."

"I thought you and Bobby were getting plenty friendly. Or is that just hear-say?"

"Yeah." And Rogue blushed real pretty, it turned out. "He's been real nice. But, don't you ever want to hang out with girls your own age? I mean, we're the two eldest girls at Westchester; Kitty and Laura are the next up and they're still at - periods, wow, _so cool_!" Her imitation of Laura's high-pitched enthusiasm was spot-on and Jubilee's face twisted into a grin almost before she could help herself.

"Yeah, they're a little full-on."

"I caught them writing Logan's name on one of the girl's bathroom doors."

Startled, Jubilee started to laugh, then, thinking, _yeah, well, this is maybe a different world after all_. It wouldn't be nearly as funny out in the real world, but in Mutant High, with a telepathic Headmaster and a place as all-out posh as this? What dweeb writes _graffiti_ on the girls' bathroom doors?

"How long are you sticking around for, Rogue?" She asked when she got her breath back.

Rogue shrugged easily. "Oh, forever, I expect. Too many law-enforcement types have seen me do stuff, and Magneto still has an interest in me, so I guess I'm stuck here until I'm normal, or something."

"Or something," Jubilee echoed, and kept the smile fixed firmly on. "Well, Rogue. If I'm still around after this report card's all done and dusted, we should hang out."

And it was as simple as that: Jubilee had a girlfriend she could hang with after class. Not that they were bosom chums or anything - just 'cause they were the same age didn't make them BFF, especially since their ideas of what was hip and trendy were separated by the entire damned Bible belt - but, still. Friends. It had a nice ring to it. It was almost normal-like.

*

"So, is it like a mind-ray, or something?" Jubilee flicked a red peanut M&amp;M into her open mouth and angled her head so she could stare at Rogue a little better.

"What?"

Jubilee nudged Rogue's knee with her elbow, sprawled out across Rogue's lap. Across the low coffee table, Carrie was having yet another Mr Big-related crisis in an endless re-run and their chips &amp; dips were running low. Good thing they'd plundered the kitchen and brought out Miss Monroe's 'hidden' stash before all the adults and kiddies retired to bed. It was good being old enough to be up late on Saturday nights, when they could pretend that this was a normal girl-time activity and they weren't, in fact, vegging in front of the TV on what was supposed to be date-night.

"Your powers, stupid. Is it like some wicked cool mind-ray, zapping their heads?"

"You've been watching too much Star Wars." Rogue shook her head in exasperation.

Jubilee flicked a chip at her head. "Star _Trek_, girl, get your geekery right!"

"Oh, I stand corrected!" And Rogue was laughing in that weird way that meant she was upset as all hell, and Jubilee had really put her foot it in again.

"Hey. Rogue. What did I say?"

"'S nothing. I'm just being all juvie."

"No, _Kitty_ is being juvie in trying to stay up tonight, like we don't have all of _Sex and the City_ on DVD already," Jubilee corrected. "You're being all hot at me, and I'd just as soon know why now than later."

"I'm not!" Rogue shifted, pulling her legs out from under Jubilee. They fetched up on either side of the sofa, the half-eaten packet of M&amp;Ms spilling out across the floor unnoticed. "I'm being a drama queen and you're not to indulge me!"

"Fine." Jubilee grabbed a passing M&amp;M and stuck it in her mouth. At Rogue's disbelieving look, she rolled her eyes. "Hey, you don't want the aggro, I don't want the aggro. Whatever. If we're cool, then, QED, we're cool."

"All that extra learning is really coming in handy, huh?" Rogue smiled, a little tightly.

"I'll have you know that I am down with _all_ the acronyms. Call me - Queen Geek."

"Well, with your encyclopaedic Star Trek knowledge, it's mighty tempting!"

"Mind-rays, puh-lease, you're talking early Doctor Who, but I didn't think your feeble brain could stretch to it."

"You're not really helping your case here with this display of geek bravado."

"I plan on running for Congress on my knowledge of dweeb trivia," Jubilee said smugly. She settled herself back in Rogue's lap, carefully insulated from any actual bodily contact by at least three layers of clothing. "You'd be surprised at the B-movie crap they show on mall TVs to demonstrate perfect pixel vision."

Rogue smiled a little sadly at that, smoothing a gloved over Jubilee's short locks. "You know, you've got the most fitting name I ever did hear," she murmured quietly, almost as if she didn't mean for Jubilee to hear it.

Jubilee felt something then, like she'd made a friend cry and she hadn't meant to. She stomped on the feeling, fast. "Whachosay?" She mumbled instead around a mouthful of M&amp;Ms, too mindful of Rogue's bleary reflection superimposed across Carrie's angst to make it a real question. If Rogue wanted to get all weepy, fine. Jubilee wasn't gonna encourage it, is all.

"Nothing. Just - I like your hair. 'S supercool."

"'Supercool?'" Jubilee mocked gently, eyes fixed on Jubilee's in the flickering reflection on the TV monitor. "Careful, there, pumpkin, you're showing your redneck roots." She tightened her grip on Rogue's knee, fingers sneaking across to tickle, just a little bit.

Rogue smacked her shoulder and laughed. And, just like that, they were cool again.

*

It wasn't until a fair few months later, with Dr Grey gone and the faculty one short, that Jubilee had a class with Logan, Mr - whatever, 'cause he didn't have a last name. _Definitely a Mutant High natural_, Jubilee thought. Not that she didn't like the big guy, but she didn't really _know_ him, is all. Wouldn't have given two hoots about that, a while back, but somewhere along the line spending time with Rogue had become easier and easier. She could even stand Bobby Drake's ever-present smile of loved-up bliss a little better.

"And then - when he grabs you around the neck -"

Logan was teaching them self-defence, of the 'hit first, run fast' school of thought, near as she could figure. There was some stuff about channelling and whathaveyou, but Jubilee wasn't very clear on where the tea ended and the self-defence started, so she skipped that whole bit. It sure looked pretty when Logan was demonstrating it, though; Jubilee knew that Rogue certainly thought so, given that she'd turned up to watch, even though she'd already had the class. Hell, she had the damn _uniform_ and she still turned up. Not that Jubilee blamed her, really - half-naked, _hot_ teacher doing tea ceremonies or what-the-fuck-ever it was supposed to be? Not gonna say no.

Also, extra credit, and you can't sneeze at that when your GPA's dragging 'cause physics is still not our friend. So she got to grapple a little with Logan and the rest - so fucking what? This was one area where the boys were supposed to shine, and it gave her a little spring in her step to know otherwise.

Flick - swing - punch - and Bobby Drake ended up halfway across the room.

Logan let out a low whistle. "How the hell'd you do that, kid?"

"My dad taught me, when I was little." All she'd got out of her parents had been her lame-ass name and some lame-ass moves that had been enough for a while. And, yeah, it was a simple enough move - flick - swing - punch - and easy as hell to block if you knew that was all your opponent had. But she'd picked up enough to fill it out, here and there, 'cause the New York malls after hours were never exactly gonna be Disneyland and peachy-keen.

"Huh," Logan said, and that seemed to be that.

Her thunder somewhat stolen, Jubilee got down to evading rape via a headlock, and was wondering why the hell she'd go to all the trouble of bashing a guy's brains in when his nads were so much easier to locate and get to. Meh. Extra credit, that was the key. Who the hell cared if the class was gonna be joke.

By the end, she was nursing a sprain and she ached all over. Yeah, ok, maybe not a _total_ joke.

"Hey, Jubilee, stick around a minute or two, will ya?"

"Sure, Mr Logan," Jubilee said, and waved Rogue away. "Go on, I'll catch up." Rogue gave her a little wave as she left the gym, Bobby's arm around her waist. "What's up?"

Logan was mopping up his neck. Any bruises some of the stronger students had managed to inflict were fading away under Jubilee's gaze, as if they'd never been there at all.

_Holy cow_, she thought, impressed despite herself. _That's some hyper trick._

"Those were some good moves you showed off today. Know any more?"

She shrugged easily. "Not really. I picked up stuff as and when I need to."

Logan's eyes were scary-bright and keen, like he was eating her up. She shivered a little. "You do a lot of that, huh? Live on a need-to-live basis?"

She had a weird feeling about this. "Is this a pep talk? 'Cause, no force in hell is gonna make me wear a short skirt and wave pompoms around."

Logan blinked. "Yeah, _that's_ the visual I need kid; Jesus!" He shook his head. "Listen, I hear you're always in the Prof's study, which eats up my time, and eats up those damned meetings Cyke's making us have every damn week, and - hell, look, do you want to learn Tai Chi or not?"

Qu'est-ce que le fuck, as the French would say, and her mouth was probably hanging open. "I'm not real big with the tea ceremonies."

"So we'll skip the geisha training," Logan said easily, and Jubilee scrunched up her face, aware that she was being mocked and unable to figure out why or how. At her expression, Logan's smile widened. "Ah, there we go."

"What?"

"It's damned annoying, right? Knowing there's a hell of a lot you _could_ know, but being too damned scared to know it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, _definitely_ not a pep talk."

"Look. I'm not real big with the words, here. And I'm probably saying this wrong. But you're a firecracker, Jubilation Lee, and I think you have potential. And I'd say you remind me of me, if I could remember what I was like before." He frowned. "Anyways. It's nothing formal or whatever. I just thought we could hang out. I could teach you some stuff. It might be - fun."

It took a moment for Jubilee to figure what the hell about that statement sounded odd, and - "Yeah, I'm all for the fun and frolics," she said, snippy, then relented. Rogue couldn't stop singing the guy's praises, and after they'd lost Dr Grey even Bobby had – ha! – warmed up to him. "OK. I'll try it. But if it sucks ass, I'm totally out."

"Sounds fair to me."

And they shook on it.

As she left the gym, Jubilee saw Mr Summers hovering in the doorway, and knew that she'd been screwed. Firecracker, right. Who the hell talked like that anymore?

*

Except - and here's the part that's weird, the part that wouldn't work in an HBO-movie - it wasn't as bad as all that. It was even kinda nice, even. Even when it was way later and Dr Grey came back, and every time she walked by Logan would refocus on her like she was on fire or something; yeah, even then his gaze would quickly wander back to Jubilee, busy stretched out in some stupid posture. Tai Chi, right, minus stupid tea ceremonies or what-the-fuck-ever. And, plus, Rogue got to spend some quality time with Bobby Drake and not feel like she was leaving Jubilee in the lurch, which Jubilee was happy with. Nothing like having to invent excuses to be on your own so your friend wouldn't feel guilty about spending time with her boyfriend. God, when had she become such a charity case?

"OK, you know what? This isn't working."

Logan was staring at her from across the room, his heavy brows gathered together in a Frown of Doom.

"Yeah, I coulda told you that. _This_ is supposed to improve flexibility? I'm gonna end up stuck as a pretzel, and then how am I supposed to fight crime or do my homework? I'm not seeing Dr Grey take an excuse of, "yeah, my legs were stuck behind my head" as a reason for skipping that history essay."

"Huh. Well, let's move on, then."

And then, when she had barely unknotted her limbs, he hit her hard enough to send her flying across the room.

Jubilee fell into a pile of mats with a satisfying 'thump' and came up, bounding. "Hey, give a gal _warning_!"

So, yeah, in the great saga of Jubilee's life, she's not too sure how that last bit is gonna translate. She's pretty sure that someone laying into you with great big man-fists is not gonna work visually, and how the hell can she say - no, wait, this was _exactly_ what I needed. He's not treating like some kid, that's what it means, and –

Yeah, that would work about as well as it would with social services.

Except that she thinks maybe her parents weren't so crazy after all. Logan didn't think so, at any rate, when she told him one time, post-session and settling down in the common room. "So, I reckon that they shot themselves in the foot, maybe. Shoulda called me something normal, then maybe I woulda turned out normal. What kinda name is 'Jubilation'?"

"I dunno. What kinda name is Rogue? Or Wolverine?"

"Ah, not fair. You _chose_ those names, you weren't born with them. You can go back to being Logan or, well, whatever the hell Rogue's real name is, if you like. I'm still stuck as Jubilee."

"Don't see what's so wrong with that." He stole a chip from her bowl and she scowled.

"Don't see what's so _right_ with it, is all. I mean, it's kinda stupid, dotcha think, to call your kid after something, like you've figured her out already? I mean, all those stupid girls called Charity or Constance or whatever -" she popped her gum in disgust. "I bet you not a single one of them lives up to her name."

"That's their loss, not yours. And not your parents', either. Way I see it is, you're looking at this all backwards. Folks don't call things names they think they already are. They call them names they want them to be."

She screwed up her face. "I don't get you."

"Take - like a ship, for instance. It's just a bit of steel and iron and motor. We name the ship _before_ she sails, and we name her something good, so she'll have something to live up to. You think all that champagne'd get wasted otherwise? It's all done to give the ship luck, Jubes. Name her _Intrepid_, or _Defiant_, or after heroes, and we do it because we want the ship to become as intrepid and as defiant as -"

"Yeah, that doesn't hold much water with people, though, does it?" Jubilee interrupted.

He shrugged. "Don't see why not. Don't see much difference in calling you after your great-aunt who was always happy, and calling you Jubilation. Don't see a difference at all."

Jubilee said nothing, but frowned at him.

"Don't give me that look. Your folks called you 'Jubilation' 'cause they wanted to bring out all the lucky parts of whatever's out there in your favour, Jubes. An extra big bottle on that prow, or something."

"Didn't fucking work, though, did it?" Jubilee groused. "I'm as jubilant as this bottle of soda, here."

Logan rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna let you think on that stupidity for a second, while I go get us some more tacos."

Jubilee sat and thought, desperately frustrated that she'd missed the point again. She wasn't stupid, she knew, just - hell, HBO would lap it up. Would probably label her with body dysmorphic disorder, or some sort of depression, or something. Not the world's funnest person. Lost in thought, she started at the commotion in the corridor outside. _Ah,_ she thought, _the intrepid day-trippers return!_

"Hey, Jubes, whatcha doing?" Rogue stuck her head around the door.

She waved in the general direction of the TV. "Logan and I are watching 'The Last Samurai'."

"Oooh, private time with the teacher!" Kitty giggled, pushing past Rogue and sitting down, uninvited, next to Jubilee.

"Is he looking for booze again?" And, yeah, Bobby, who else?

In fact, was that the whole senior half of Mutant High, crowding around the small common room to watch an age-inappropriate film?

Oh, yeah, her report card was gonna be swell.

"So, Jubes, I hear you're learning kung fu in the Danger Room." Bobby popped a chip in his mouth with a loud 'snap'. "Share!"

"No way!" Kitty squealed.

"Oh, yeah, she's being personally tutored by Logan." Bobby winked in as exaggerated a manner as he could manage, given that he was squished in the one-person armchair with Rogue and was facing the wrong way.

"I go out for tacos, I come back - you've multiplied." Logan raised an eyebrow at the gathered masses. "Hey kids." He turned a hopeless gaze towards Jubilee. "So, I'm getting in trouble with old laser-eyes again, huh?"

She rolled her eyes and raised an arm lazily. The room turned to look at her – easily the tallest one of the lot by a good inch or so, even sitting down. "Guys, one word of this film reaches Mr Summers, I'm knowing the reason why, capish?" She popped her gum for emphasis.

Bobby raised an eyebrow, grinning. "Your impersonation of a West-Side gangsta is growing sharper by the second, Jubes."

"Hush, now, Bobby, the big kids are gonna talk." With a conspiratorial wink, she settled back in the sofa with Logan by her side.

"No, you're not jubilant at all, are you?" He whispered as he settled next to her, and she shot him a startled look. He reached out and caught hold of her hand. "You don't gotta be happy yourself to make those around you happy, Jubilee. But it'd be real nice if you could be."

So this is the bit in the HBO movie where there's a swell of music and movie-Jubes turns to movie-Logan and they kiss passionately. Because the movie-Jubes is played by, like, a skanky thirty-year-old, and there's apparently nothing wrong with a teacher perving on a student - but, whatever, she's not gonna go there.

What with this not being a movie, Jubilee is content to just sit curled up between a warm clutch of bodies, Logan's hand firm over hers, and remember that she has friends. Whatever else she might feel for him - and he's easy on the eyes, she has to give him that, despite being, like, a bazillion years older than her - this is the Kodak moment. _I can do this_, she thought, and that same feeling was back again, like her heart would burst from the fullness of it. _I can earn my name._

She can taste the champagne already.

*

fin


End file.
